Nice Job Breaking It, Hero/Myth, Legend and Folklore

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Nice Job Opening the Box, Pandora...
  • ...Leading up to that, thanks for stealing fire, Prometheus!
    • Ummm... What exactly did that break? Besides Zeus' temper, I mean. Humanity owes its survival to Prometheus, and there don't seem to have been any problems that are substantially worse than the death of all humankind.
      • Zeus and the other gods created Pandora as revenge for Humanity accepting fire from Prometheus. According to the Gods, mankind was fine just as they were being completely dependent on the Gods, but having access and control of fire allowed them to develop autonomy and self-reliance. YMMV tho.
    • I think there's some confusion because you're missing part of the story. Stopping after "Prometheus stole fire from the gods" is like walking out of Phantom of the Opera after Act 1. The full story is that after recieving fire, the humans began to make sacrifices to the gods in thanks. They burned up lots of great-smelling food, which the gods found pleasing, and calmed Zues' anger. Prometheus, upset at seeing his creations burning up the best parts of their hard-earned food, decided to change this. He ordered the humans to butcher a cow and split it into two piles: one was all the steaks, ribs, etc (the good eating parts) covered in bones and sinew. The other pile was all the organs and viscersa covered in "snow-white fat". Prometheus then asked Zues to come down and pick for himself which pile he wanted for his daily sacrifice. Zues, being powerful but not terribly smart, picks the better-looking pile, and ends up the fool, which re-ignited his rage. Essentially, Prometheus wasn't punished for stealing fire, he was punished for teaching men how to cheat the gods!
  • Adam and Eve, enough said.[context?]
  • The Norse gods' treatment of Fenrir and Jormungandr, two of the monsters destined to end the world, may well have been a significant factor in their decision to do so.

Back to Nice Job Breaking It, Hero